General Information

History

The name of the city Jabalpur comes from a combination of the Arabic word Jabal= Mountain and the Sanskrit word Pura = city. Jabal is also the root word in the name of Gibraltar which was originally called Jebel al Tariq (Tariq’s Mountain). It is believed that Jabalpur is the tapasya bhumi of a mythological figure known as sage Jabalie, from whom the name ‘Jabali-pattan’ is derived. Ashokan relics have been found. Later on it was the capital of the famous Tripuri kingdom in the (9th–10th centuries):-

The Haihayas And Bonds

In AD 875, it was taken over by the Kalachuri dynasty who made Jabalpur their capital. In the 13th century, the Gonds seized it and made it their capital. Inscriptions record the existence during the 11th and 12th centuries of a local line of princes of the Haihai people who are closely connected with the history of Gondwana.

First painting ever made on Maharani Durgawati shown gearing-up for battle of Narrai. This fresco by Beohar Rammanohar Sinha is in Jabalpur’s ‘Shaheed-Smarak’.

In the 16th century the Gond raja of Garha-Mandla extended his power over fifty-two districts, including the present Jabalpur. During the minority of his grandson, Asaf Khan, the viceroy of Kara Manikpur, conquered the Garha principality and held it at first as an independent chief. Eventually he submitted to the Mughal emperor Akbar. From time to time, the Mughal rulers tried to overrun it. The legendary Gond Queen Rani Durgavati also died fighting the Mughal forces led by the great Mughal Emperor Akbar. Jabalpur city is also famous because of Mr. Priyank Tiwari also known as the Robinhood Pandey

The Marathas

The Mughal Empire, however, enjoyed little more than a nominal supremacy; and the princes of Garha-Mandla maintained a practical independence until their subjugation by the Maratha governors of Sagar in 1781. They called it ‘Jabbalgarh’. In 1798 the Maratha Peshwa granted the Narmada valley to the Bhonsle princes of Nagpur, who continued to hold the district until the British occupied it in 1818 after defeating the Marathas. The British made ‘Jabbalgarh’ the commission headquarters of the Narmada territories and established a cantonment here.

Historic ‘Beohar Palace’ where Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Azad and other national leaders stayed in 1933 and a session of Congress was held.

The Transitions

Rajman-Rajeshri Beohar Raghuvir Simha, born 1877 died 1960, was the last Jagirdar of Juppulpore to whose ancestors the estates were granted in 1764 in perpetuity by descendents of Rani Durgavati for acts of nationalism, patriotism, bravery in the battlefield in wars against Muslim invaders. His ancestor Rajman-Rajeshri Beohar Adhar Simha was Rani Durgavati’s Prime Minister and her army’s Knight-Commander who attained matyrdom fighting Akbar’s forces alongside her in the battle of Narrai. Due to a very strong hold amongsts the masses, the hereditary title-prefix of “Beohar” and the Jagirdari were respected by the subsequent Bhoslas of Nagpur, the Peshwas of Saugor, and eventually the British who later became hostile due to the family’s patriotism. In memory of Rajman-Rajeshri Beohar Raghuvir Simha, Civil Lines (North) is known as “Beohar Bagh” and the road between Collectrate and Adhartal is known as “Beohar Raghuvir Sinha Road”.

British Raj

Under the British Raj, ‘Jabbalgarh’ became ‘Jubbulpore’ and was made the capital of the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories, which was part of the British North-Western Provinces. At that time it became infamous for the Thuggee murders, but made more famous by the man who suppressed thugee, William Henry Sleeman, who was later appointed commissioner at Jabalpur. Very few know that the actions against the “Thugs” or “Phasigaars” were actually initiated by Rajman-Rajeshri Beohar Dariyav Simha, the then Jagirdar of Jubbulpore, who then handed it over to W.H. Sleeman (then Major). For the noble cause of rehabilitation of thugs’ families who were called “gurinds”, the Beohar-family allowed their piece of land known as “Gurandi” in the heart of the town.

Dawn of Independent Movement 1857

In Jubbulpore, the first sparks for struggle for Indian independence from the British Raj were lit by Gadadhar Tiwari on 16 June 1857 when he opened fire on his European superiors. He was later blown publicly from the mouth of a canon. His supreme sacrifice did not go waste as the movement caught momentum in the region, albeit, was short lived. It broiled for more than four months during which the British were petrified, became extremely vulnerable and dreaded the worst. They ran out not only of support but also of supplies and were besieged in their own citadels. They survived only because a local banker/merchant came to their rescue which bought them time for reinforcements to arrive. The 1857 struggle was locally spearheaded by gond Raja Shankar Sahi and his son Yuvraj Raghunath Sahi who were later arrested and detained in a jail which still exists near DRM office. The movement culminated tragically following martyrdom of Raja Shankar Sahi and Yuvraj Raghunath Sahi from the mouth of a canon on 18 September at the very spot where Lady Elgin Hospital now stands. Subsequently, their supporters and masterminds Jagat Singh Rajput, Beohar Aman Simha, Ganga Mishra, Sooraj Prasad and others went underground and never surfaced. Their estates and assets were confiscated.

End of 19th Century CE

The Saugor and Nerbudda Territories became part of the new Central Provinces in 1861 which in 1903 became the Central Provinces and Berar. By the early 20th century CE, Jubbulpore became the headquarters of a brigade in the 5th division of the Southern Army.

Beohar Rajendra Sinha helping his guest Mahatma Gandhi on the staircase in Jabalpur in 1933 during Bapu’s historic Harijan Yatra.

Gandhian Era

Mahatma Gandhi’s longest and most important stay in Jubbulpore was in 1933 at the “Beohar Palace” of Beohar Rajendra Simha. Bapu was accompanied by Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Ravishankar Shukla, Dr Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, Khurshed Nariman, Abul Kalam Azad, Jamnalal Bajaj, Dr Syed Mahmud, Mahadev Desai, etc., and a meeting of AICC/CWC was held at the “Beohar Palace”. Bapu’s grandson Kanu (son of Ramdas Gandhi) also stayed with him at the “Beohar Palace” at Sathia Kua. Mahatma Gandhi’s memorabilia of that occasion are still well preserved by the descendents of Beohar-family represented by Beohar Dr Anupam Sinha.

Many freedom fighters voluntarily gave up comforts of life and family and plunged into Gandhiji’s three-S (swadeshi, swaraj and satyagrah) movements and the freedom struggle at large. In the wake of India’s independence and nation building, they happily and gracefully embraced the harshes of long jail-sentences. Such bravehearts from Jubbulpore included Ravishankar Shukla, Sunderlal Tapasvi, Beohar Rajendra Simha, Laxman Singh Chauhan, Seth Govind Das, Harihar Vyas, Maheshdatt Mishra, Deviprasad Shukla, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, Hukumchand Narad, Makhanlal Chaturvedi, Balmukund Tripathi, Dwarka Prasad Mishra, Kunjilal Dubey, Narsinghdas Agrawal, Rameshwarprasad Guru, Bhawaniprasad Tiwari, Kashiprasad Pandey, Nathuram Vyas, Chidambaram Pillai, Sawaimal Jain, Satyendra Mishra, Sitaram Jadhav, Mulayamchand Jain and many-many more..

An important landmark event was the holding of the Tripuri Congress session in 1939 that was presided over by Subhash Chandra Bose. Politically under Lokmanya Tilak’s direction Jhanda Satyagraha was launched with success (who visited 3 times) Mahatma Gandhi visited 4 times and famous Congress session was held at ‘Vishnudatt Shukla Nagar’ at TilwaraGhat (near Jubbulpore) in 1939 when Subhash Chandra Bose was elected the Congress President against the wishes of Mahatma Gandhi. A memorial Kamania gate was erected in city.

Post Independence

After India’s independence in 1947 Jubbulpore started being spelt Jabalpur. Like any other city, Jabalpur also mourned Mahatma Gandhi’s mytyrdom in 1948. Because of Bapu’s strong linkages with Jabalpur and a very special love for it, his mortal remains were brought to the city. After going through the entire city, the urn containing Mahatma Gandhi’s ashes were immersed in holy river Narmada by Pt. R.S. Shukla, Beohar Rajendra Simha, Seth Govindas and others on 12 February 1948 in Tilwara Ghat where a massive unprecedented condolence meeting was held and addressed by these national leaders, great freedom-fighters and Gandhian-philosophers from Jabalpur. In 1950-51, the Central Provinces and Berar became the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and Pandit Ravi Shankar Shukla became the first Chief Minister of a Congress led Government.